Every Friday in our newsletter until the Friday before election day, we include a feature called “Weekly Question With Your Candidates.” Fort Myers Beach voters will fill three open seats in November.
There are four candidates.
This week we asked the candidates if they support rebuilding the beach school.
Tom Brady
In my opinion, restoring a school on Fort Myers Beach should be a higher priority than many other non-essential services. A community needs more than buildings and businesses—it needs families, children, and the services that allow people to live and work here.
I believe an island school is critical to attracting and retaining families and workers. Without one, we make it much harder for working families to call Fort Myers Beach home.
Personally, I would be willing to contribute financially toward making a school a reality. How much – we need the analysis to determine the gap. I also believe we should explore every possible funding source—Lee County, the State of Florida, federal programs, grants, private endowments, partnerships, and community support.
As we move deeper into this discussion, I am confident the committees working on this issue will examine all available options and determine what is financially realistic.
For me, the question is not simply whether we can afford a school. We also need to consider what kind of community Fort Myers Beach becomes if we don’t have one.
Anita Cereceda
One of the many difficult decisions we will be faced with soon is relevant to the school. Do we NEED a school? The numbers from the towns study sure don’t indicate that. Do we WANT a school, YES!
According to the study commissioned by the town with Metro Forecasting, the total number of children including full time residents and children of folks employed on the island can be seen in the chart below:
The school district pays about $9000 per student. So using these numbers, we would have anywhere from $765,000 to $981,000 to manage and operate the school, minus what I believe the school district would take as an administrative fee. Now add to that the cost of construction or rehabilitation of the existing school (if possible), teacher salaries, administration costs, curriculum materials, technology, utilities and maintenance and insurance to name a few.
On average, the research I’ve done tells me that a K-5 charter school will cost anywhere from 1.5 to 6 or 7 million dollars. That’s a huge gap. Even with grants and the generosity of a local sponsor there could be a tremendous shortfall that would lie at the foot of taxpayers.
Now, if the work of the committees and further research by the town indicates we should move full steam ahead, let’s consider all of our options. Maybe instead of construction we co-locate the school? Maybe we narrow the grade focus to make it more feasible? At this point we don’t have the financial data yet to make these decisions but I hope that the 6 committees will be able to give us a clearer view of what will ultimately separate our wants from our needs. Maybe they can co-exist.
That’s the dilemma we face. While the beach school holds a permanent place in our community’s heart, I would be dishonest if I claimed to have a simple answer today. What I know for certain is that we must engage in honest, public, date-driven dialogue to ensure we make a responsible decision that serves the best interests of future generations of islanders.
Rebeeca Link
I learned after Hurricane Ian that there is a big difference between what we truly need and what we want for our community. So, I would frame the question a little differently: Do I believe Fort Myers Beach should have a school? Absolutely. I believe a school is one of the foundation blocks of a strong community, and I want Fort Myers Beach to have one.
At the same time, I have a responsibility to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars. The Town remains in negotiations with the Lee County School District, and I do not want to interfere with those negotiations by speculating about an outcome or committing taxpayers to a dollar amount before we have the facts.
That is exactly why I support the work Dr. Traci Kohler has begun and the six citizen committees established to help develop the Town’s charter school application. These volunteers are doing the fact-finding and analysis our community needs, with no promise of a predetermined outcome. The six committees are examining education, governance, finance, community engagement, facilities and safety, and operations and staffing.
We need to understand not only rebuilding and start-up costs, but enrollment, available funding, and anticipated annual operating costs. Only then can we responsibly determine what financial commitment, if any, should be asked of Town taxpayers. The charter application and the ongoing negotiations are two paths being pursued at the same time. I support doing that work so we preserve our options rather than closing a door before we have the information we need.
This is one of the biggest decisions our community will face in the coming year. It should not be predetermined by one council member—or even five council members. It should be an informed community decision based on facts. I welcome residents with ideas, expertise or concerns to participate and bring them to these committees. They are doing this work on behalf of us all.
I want a school on Fort Myers Beach. Now we need to determine, together, the responsible and sustainable way to make that happen.
Ed Schoonover
Yes we need a school on the beach. I feel that it’s fair that we let the school committees complete their work before we have any real projection of costs and streams of payments to cover such costs. The island is evolving and our future will bring younger families to the island. The ripple effect of this will strengthen our community for the better.
QUESTION #2 – THE BAY OAKS POOL
QUESTION #1 – HIGHER FEES
QUESTION #3 – AMENDMENT 3
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The Four(5) things this very small barrier Island (FMB) does NOT need or can continue to afford, build / replace, or maintain are as follows :
– a Library 👎🏻
– a School of any kind 👎🏻
– a Community Pool 👎🏻
– boat mooring for the homeless 👎🏻
– NO Mound House 👎🏻
* FIVE (5)
I agree with Anita. The numbers don’t support a school on the island. The number of possible students does not tell us how many may want to go off island to private or parochial schools or how many will be home schooled. As we can see from this data, the number of potential students has been declining for years. With the cost of real estate, taxes and insurance so expensive on the island, it’s not as conducive to family living as it was in the distant past. The hurricanes in the past 5-6 years changed virtually everything, and we have to adapt. It took a long time to get the data about the number of potential students living on the island, and it should be obvious to taxpayers, we can’t justify a school on the Island.
Thank you, Anita, for doing the research and presenting the data. The answer is pretty clear under the current circumstances.
I hope that whoever gets on to TC puts their heads over their hearts. Even if we want a school, if it’s not financially viable it shouldn’t move forward. They need to be honest and transparent and stop trying to make everyone happy. The numbers won’t lie, but will these candidates value the impact on the taxpayers more than they do the “community” wants?? It’s sad to say that I’m finding it hard to find three candidates to support. Where is our future fiscal responsibility going to come from when they don’t seem to want to make the hard decisions? They need to focus on needs vs wants and be willing to say NO. This goes for the school, the pool, the mooring field, Bay Oaks and the Mound House. I’m sorry but if they can’t be self supporting via users fees, I as a retired taxpayer don’t want to continue to foot the bill.
I agree with Anita regaring the numbers she supplied. I don’t believe we need the school. Due to Hurricane Ian, the majority of family sized homes have been washed away. Now we are seeing much larger homes being being built for “snowbirds” that are retired – – with no children.
Also, WHILE WE ARE AT IT:
1. Why the need for 12 new employees with full benefits? This day and age, due to the expence, employees are asked to contribute a portion to their health care costs.
2. What can be done with the post office . . . there are temporary posts on the outside holding the outside ceiling of the building? Before Ian, all mail was delivered from the FMB building. Now, post Ian, the mail carriers are coming from Page Field, which means in season we may not get mail for 2 or 3 days.
In an era where school districts across the country are closing schools due to low enrollment, our candidates are taking the opposite approach. What also needs to be considered is since school systems have turned into bureaucratic disasters, the percentage of parents home schooling kids is skyrocketing. If you assume having a school will attract families to the island, the numbers say it isn’t the draw it was in the past. In fact, if you want to live a beach life as a family, home schooling is a much better fit to be able to have the flexibility and freedom to enjoy island life.
It’s seems that Anita did her research and there is no way The numbers justify a new school. Stop kidding ourselves. This is a tourist island with retirees. The rest of the candidates should look at her numbers and be honest with everyone. Also, what’s the cost gonna be when another hurricane hits?
100% agree. Look at the demographics. Read the room.
Like Anita says in a nutshell, the #’s don’t lie. I’m not sure how it has been calculated that by 2045 there will be 109 Students. I believe everything is just going to increase in cost. Therefore, I’m not sure how many parental age people with Children 12 & under will want to live on a beach that basically caters to Retirees & Tourists. And sure, people feel a Town should come with a School ⁉️ Well then let’s also add a Daycare, Arcade, etc. Just saying.